Tile.



UNITE TATES AT FICE WILLIAM PASSMORE MEEKER, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

TILE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. '71 5,831, dated December 16, 1902. Application filed (Inly 31, 1901. Renewed May 23, 1902. Serial No. 108,737. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM PASSMORE MEEKER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Newark, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Tiles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates particularly to that class of tiles which are used to produce an ornamental surface upon walls, ceilings, floors, and similar places, to which the tiles are attached by means of plastic cement; and my improvements are directed to certain details of the form of the tiles whereby they are adapted to fit more closely and to produce a more even and uniform surface.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the under side of one of my improved tiles. Fig. 2 is an edge view, and Fig. 3 is an end view, of the same, and in all the figures the same reference-letters relate to the same parts.

The tile shown belongs to the class of dove tail-backed tiles, which are best applied to the backing by placing the tile to one side of and with the wider ends of the dovetailed grooves toward the position which the tile is ultimately to occupy and then sliding the tile into position, whereby the plastic cement is offectually forced into the undercuts of the dovetails. With this method,and,infact,with almost any method, a certain amount of cement is very apt to become crowded in between the edges of adjoining tiles, thus preventing the edges from coming closely together and producing cracks or openings between the tiles, which detracts from the appearance of the finished surface. To avoid WVhen the tile is then slid into position, it will slide along on the cement without banking it up in front of the tile, as the bevel at the forward edge will tend to make the tile ride over instead of piling up the cement, and thus the tile may be slid snugly up to the preceding tile without the cement being pressed up between their vertical edges. Besides this, it will be evident that the preceding tile will have more or less of a recess under its rear edge, caused by its having been slid forward into position, and any surplus of cement which might be waved up in front of the following tile can find lodgment under the rear end of the preceding tile. A certain amount of lateral movement is almost necessary in adjusting the tiles so that their side edges will meet exactly, and this is permitted, like the endwise movement, by the beveled edges, which afford room for any surplus cement without its being crowded up between the vertical edges.

It will be thus seen by means of my improvement that tiles may he slid upon plastic cement into their proper position without forcing the cement up between the vertical edges and so that when the tiles come together their edges shall join snugly and evenly and present a smooth and uniform surface without breaks and cracks.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A tile provided with a fiat top and bottom, an undercut depression in said bottom, and with edges beveled off for a portion of their thickness on the under side of the tile.

2. A tile provided with a fiat top and bottom, a tapered, dovetail groove in said bottom, and with edges beveled off for a portion of their thickness on the under side of the tile.

WILLIAM PASSMORE MEEKER.

Witnesses:

KATHLEEN SNELL, WM. D. NEILLEY. 

